(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to exercise equipment, and in particular to such equipment which is used primarily to exercise leg muscles.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
The need for physical exercise and conditioning is well known, especially in a culture where physical exertion is no longer a high priority, but where the demand on athletes of all ages to compete at a high level is increasing. An entire industry has developed to afford people the opportunity to exercise to maintain health, appearance, and competitiveness. Gyms are found in nearly every city and town and have a variety of workout machines. Some machines are complicated and can be utilized to exercise a variety of muscle groups, while other machines are designed to exercise specific muscle groups.
Each of the muscles on the exterior of the human body involves a muscle belly. A tendon on each end of the muscle belly is attached to a respective bone. As the muscles flex and extend, they operate the bones as levers. The tendon that attaches one end of a muscle belly to a bone and that remains fixed during flexion is termed the “origin” of the muscle and the tendon that attaches the other end of the muscle to a second bone and moves that bone during flexion is termed the “insertion” of the muscle.
The most common and easily recognized example of these relationships is the biceps brachii, located on the upper arm and attached at two points at the upper arm and scapula and a single lower point on the lower arm slightly past the elbow. The most common exercise for the biceps brachii is the barbell curl (which can be achieved by a dead weight or a machine). A barbell (dead weight) is lifted off the floor with both arms extended and with the body fully vertical, the barbell is curled to a position below the chin as the elbows are held at the sides of the body. The “origin” of the biceps brachii in this exercise is the two-point upper attachment (fixed) while the “insertion” is the lower attachment that moves the lower arm in a pivotal motion from full extension to full flexion to the position below the chin.
Another common exercise for the biceps brachii is the chinning exercise. The arms grasp an overhead bar and the body is pulled up until the chin is positioned over the bar at full flexion. In this exercise, the “origin” and “insertion” are the reverse of the barbell curl exercise. The attachment to the lower arm is the “origin” (fixed) while the two-point attachment at the upper arm and scapula becomes the “insertion” and performs the movement of the entire body to the position where the chin is positioned over the bar.
By changing the position of muscle flexion based upon the “origin” and “insertion” of a muscle, the belly of the muscle becomes more developed and adaptable in strength and coordination.
There has been consideration development during the past fifty years of exercise machines using various pulleys and weights to position a user to isolate and exercise specific muscles in a multitude of different positions.
The present invention is directed to a novel group of workout equipment and to a method to exercise the upper leg muscles, the biceps femoris, commonly referred to as the hamstrings, and also to exercise the quadriceps. The biceps femoris is an upper leg muscle somewhat analogous to the biceps brachii on the upper arm. In a similar manner, the biceps femoris is attached between two points at the upper leg bone and hipbone and a single lower point on the lower leg slightly past the knee.
There are several exercise machines that are well known in which the attachment of the upper leg bone and hipbone is the “origin” and the lower leg bone attachment is the “insertion”. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,962, discloses a sitting position in which the knees are fixed in front and the heels are imposed on a padded roller on a lever that raises a stack of weights as the biceps femoris is flexed to bring the heels close to the buttocks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,077, discloses a bench on which the user lies on his stomach with the knees fixed in front and the heels are, again, imposed on a padded roller on a lever that raises a stack of weights as the biceps femoris is flexed to bring the heels close to the buttocks.
Additional examples of machines of this type are the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,468,026; 4,725,056; 5,5058,884; 5,094,450; 5,158,520; 5,334,120; 5,569,133; 5,628,714; 5,634,873; 5,711,749; 5,766,118; 6,059,698; 6,059,701; 6,106,444; 6,296,594; and 6,231,486.
It would desirable to have improved equipment available for use in specifically exercising the upper leg muscles, and to provide techniques to more efficiently exercise such muscles.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide equipment and techniques to specifically exercise the upper leg muscles.
The equipment and technique according to the present invention reverses the origin” and “insertion” of the biceps femoris, for example, by fixing the position of the heel to stabilize the lower leg and have the upper leg bone pull the entire upper body to bring the buttocks close to the heel. This results in the biceps femoris attachment to the lower leg bone being the “origin” and the attachment at the upper leg bone and hipbone being the “insertion”.
The muscles of the leg are extremely strong. Power lifters have “squatted” over 1000 pounds. However, the main muscle mass performing the squat is the quadriceps muscle on the front of the thighbone. The biceps femoris on the rear of the thighbone acts mainly as a stabilizing muscle during heavy squatting.
It is further object of the present invention to employ in the technique use of the part of the upper body weight as part of the resistance that the biceps femoris muscle must move during full extension to full flexion. This is accomplished by using levers and weights to support part of the upper body weight during movement from full extension to full flexion.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an exercise machine for the quadriceps muscle such that an elderly person, a person beginning an exercise program, or a person recovering from a leg injury can perform a squat exercise. Such an exercise machine includes a cable, a stack of weights, and a pivotable seat on which the user can sit while squatting to a parallel position while the weight stack offsetting a portion of the user's body weight.